State Library of South Australia logo Mountford-Sheard Collection
SA Memory. South Australia past and present, for the future




21. Request for supplies for Arnhem Land Expedition : letter
Title : 21. Request for supplies for Arnhem Land Expedition : letter 21. Request for supplies for Arnhem Land Expedition : letter View More Images
Add To My SA Memory
Creator : Mountford, Charles P. (Charles Pearcy), 1890-1976
Source : Mountford, Charles P., PRG 1218/17/9, p. 516-518
Date of creation : 1948
Format : Letter
Catalogue record
The State Library of South Australia is keen to find out more about SA Memory items. We encourage you to contact the Library if you have additional information about any of these items.
Copyright : Reproduction rights are owned by State Library of South Australia. This image may be printed or saved for research or study. Use for any other purpose requires permission from the State Library of South Australia. To request approval, complete the Permission to publish form.
Description :

A letter written by Charles Mountford on 19th August 1948, to the Larrakeyah Army Barracks in Darwin, requesting them to supply of a list of rations for the 3rd major camp of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land Expedition, based at Oenpelli. The letter was sent via Mr V.J. White, Department of Native Affairs, Darwin.


As expedition leader, Mountford was charged with estimating, securing and checking expedition supplies and equipment. This was an enormous logistical task as well as a weighty responsibility, as the scientists relied on these supplies for both their food and the equipment they needed for their research and study. According to Mountford's biography, 'Such work fell heavily on him, for there was little he could delegate. Once in the field, the expedition would have no depot "just round the corner" to fall back on if he forgot anything. Planning for a party of seventeen to be in the field for eight months was far beyond his experience of providing for two men in the western desert for a few weeks' ('Monty', page 132).

Subjects
Related names :

American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land, (1948)

Mountford, Charles P.(Charles Pearcy), 1890-1976

Coverage year : 1948
Period : 1946-1979
Place : Darwin
Region : Northern Territory
Further reading :
American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land, (1948). Records of the American-Australian scientific expedition to Arnhem Land, Melbourne : Melbourne University Press, 1956-1964

Lamshed, Max, 'Monty' : the biography of C.P. Mountford, [Adelaide] : Rigby, 1972

May, Sally K. Collecting cultures : myth, politics, and collaboration in the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition, Lanham, Md. : AltaMira Press, 2010

Navigation

Home

About SA Memory

Explore SA Memory

SA Memory Themes

Search

My SA Memory

Learning

What's on

Contributors